READING IS FUNDAMENTAL
You'd think with my new side gig as an art critic, maybe I had forgotten about my longtime fixation with the friendly neighborhood Bizarro ----way. Nothing, of course, could be further from the truth, but as much as it shames me to admit it, it's been pretty quiet of late. There's still the odd funk about the place, but it's a quiet funk.
So it's up to me, I guess, to try and stir things up a bit. Fortunately, the store's book drive provided the perfect opportunity. A couple of times a year, they set up a rusty old cart where they encourage the clientele to drop off old books, which other customers then buy for a dollar donation to various charities.
Given my aforementioned description of the store's portal to East Baltimore, you can just imagine the quality of, um, literature that passes through its doors. Picture lots and lots of trashy romance novels (to call them Harlequins would be an insult to the comparatively great works of literature that publishing house has produced), all with 14-point text and a maximum page count of about 80.
So into this mix I threw my own contribution to the greater cause -- an innocuous little book I found while cleaning out our basement called The Cold Warriors: A Policy Making Elite by John C. Donovan (yes, that John C. Donovan). It's jam-packed with fun chapters like "Beyond Pluralism: Elite Activity" and "NSC 68: The Acheson/Nitze Hard Line," but sadly, no pictures. I don't think I ever read it, but I skimmed its pages and as close as I can figure, it's about... um, an elite bunch of policy makers. During the Cold War. And stuff.
But as always, I digress. I lovingly placed the book on the cart next to the next most serious-looking book (The Brother's Wife, which I'm sure is appropriately shlocky but lacks the pictures of shirtless men and taffeta-bedecked women typically found within the genre). Anyone care to place bets on how long it takes The Cold Warriors to find a new home?
Speaking of cold, my guess is about the same time that hell... oh, never mind.